No Time Like the Past
by youmakemehappywhenskiesaregrey
Summary: A chemical reaction causes Steve to turn into an eight year old and the Avengers are stuck taking care of a severely time displaced kid. Deaging fic
1. Chapter 1

**Ok, so it's been a little while since I wrote a deaging fic for the Avengers and thanks to the person who messaged me asking for it (I don't know is you want you name mentioned or not) But here's my Steve Rogers deaging fic. Please enjoy!**

It had started with a headache. They'd returned from fighting near a factory and Steve had said he was going to sit down for a while. No one really worried about it, in fact most of them were worn out and feeling slightly irritated by the day's events. They had caught a group of mercenaries trying to raid a chemical plant and things had escalated to a larger fight and even to a small explosion. No one was happy and they had even been forced to have a chemical scrub down after being exposed to a leaked gas. The final verdict had been that the gas was harmless to them and the knowledge that the scrub down had been unnecessary had been even more annoying.

They had returned home and all split up. Tony had shut himself up in his lab, Clint had passed out on the couch and Steve had gone into his room to try and rid himself of a headache with a short nap. Soon after the others returned from their own mission in much the same mood.

The next morning was a slow one. A small mission was called but Clint and Natasha took care of it. Tony spent the day in his lab, sleeping part of it and working the rest. Bruce was busy with his own research and Thor was off for the day. No one saw Steve which was not such a surprise. Everyone was busy with their own affairs.

It wasn't until noon that a mission came through that required more people. Tony buzzed Steve's room repeatedly bot to no avail. No one was answering and finally he gave up and went searching for him. "Steve, come on man we've got a job to do." He called, throwing open the bedroom door.

There was a loud yelp from inside the room and Tony leaped backwards. Steve was not in his room, instead a boy had jerked upright from the bed and let out a shocked yell. "What the hell?" Tony squwaked loudly.

The boy lying on the bed was wearing one of Steve's shirts and was gazing at him with wide blue eyes. He couldn't have been more than seven or eight but she was terribly thin. Tony stared at him in disbelief, he wasn't stupid enough to believe Captain America could be up to no good, more like Steve was probably helping some kid but still he hadn't been expecting to find a child.

"Who are you?" The boy asked, eyes wide.

"More like who are you? You're in my house." Tony retorted, still a little stunned.

The boy looked around and suddenly seemed to realize he was not at home. "Where am I?" He asked, sounding afraid now.

"Stark Tower, where do you think?" The boy blinked stupidly, not comprehending. "I'm Tony Stark? Iron Man? Captain America brought you here didn't he? Big tall guy, blond hair? Excessively ripped?"

The boy shook his head, opened mouthed.

"Steve? Mr. Stars and Stripes?"

"I'm Steve." The boy said, plainly not understanding anything he said.

Tony groaned. "Alright Steve, I'm looking for the other Steve. This is his room. Did he bring you here?"

The boy's eyebrows came together. "I don't know. . ." He mumbled.

"You gotta speak up kid. Where'd he go?"

"There's no one here. I was at home. . . I was in bed. . ."

Tony groaned again. "Alright I'm just gonna send you home. What's your name? I'm gonna call your parents."

"We don't have a telephone." The boy said softly.

Tony groaned a third time. "cell phone then. What's your mom's name?"

"Sarah."

"Sarah what, it's kind of hard for me to find one Sarah in New York." Tony had already typed the name Sarah into his phone.

"Sarah Rogers." The boy was looking less worried and now a little taken aback by Tony's attitude and tone of voice.

Tony had finished typing before he realized what the kid had said. "Your name is Steve Rogers?"

The boy nodded, eyebrows shooting up.

"I don't think so. You're coming with me and you better start telling me the truth before I call the police." He stepped forward and hauled the boy out of the bed, slightly surprised by the child's light weight before leading him by the arm down the hall.

Bruce was in the living room, waiting to leave and looking impatient. "What's taking so long?" He asked.

Tony gave the boy a little push towards the couch and threw his hands up. "I don't know. I went to go get Steve and found this kid. He won't tell me his name or how to get ah old of his parents. I'm calling the police."

"I told you my name!" The boy cried, sounding upset.

"No, you told me Steve's name. I know Steve. You're not him. He's like four of you. Maybe five."

Bruce crossed his arms. "How did you get here?"

The boy looked at him for a moment before glancing at Tony. "I don't know, just let me out and I'll go home."

"We can't let a kid out on the streets of New York." Bruce said. "Can you give us your address."

The boy did and Tony typed it into his phone. A warehouse came up in it's location. "Kid. . ." He said, rubbing his forehead. "Ugh, JARVIS where's Steve?"

 _Captain Rogers is currently in the living room of the Tower Sir._

Tony made a face of aggravation. "JARVIS, could you scan yourself for system errors?"

 _I can sir but if this is related to the whereabouts of Captain Rogers I can assure you that he is in the living room._

"Yeah no I've got a kid here who keeps telling me _he's_ Rogers."

 _Biometric scans confirm that that is Stephen Rogers. There are slight differences to his genetic makeup but all concluding data confirms that Captain Rogers is in the living room._

Bruce glanced at the boy who was now looking around wildly. "Who's talking?" He asked.

"That's not Steve." Tony argued, ignoring the kid.

"I wanna go home!" The boy said, now sounding overwhelmed. "Just let me go."

Bruce continued to study the boy before picking up his tablet from a side table. "JARVIS, could you please pull up a picture of Captain America prior to the super soldier serum.

 _Gladly Sir._

A moment later Bruce was squinting at the tablet. "Are there any earlier photos?"

 _According to the internet there is one senior high school photo and one photo of Captain Rogers as a child. I believe the photograph of Captain Rogers as a child would be most helpful._

"Can you pull it up?"

Ignoring the boy who was now looking around as though he was going insane Bruce handed the tablet to Tony. The boy in the picture was a few years younger and standing with a blond woman. She had her arm around his shoulders and he was leaning against her leg but faded and old there was no mistaking that it was the boy sitting on the couch.

Tony made a slight face. "No way. . ." He looked from the tablet to the boy and back before motion for Bruce to follow him out into the hall. "Stay here." He ordered the boy who had started to follow them.

"What the hell's going on?" He hissed, once they were out of ear shot.

"How should I know? Maybe something happened with the chemicals."

"Oh God. . ." Tony groaned and put his head in his hands. "We need to fix this. I can't deal with Captain tricycle."

Bruce made a small noise and nodded. "I'll take him down for a med eval. We've got to make sure nothing else is wrong with him. We should also figure out if the chemicals effected him and if they could effect anyone else."

"Alright. . . okay. . . I just spent the last ten minutes yelling at him that he wasn't Steve Rogers. How do I fix this?"

"Well you could just admit you're wrong. . ."

Tony gave him a sharp look, catching the jab. "I'm gonna call Thor and tell him to deal with the mission. You deal with the kid."

Bruce gave him a look of disbelief before rolling his eyes and stepping back into the livingroom. The boy was still sitting on the couch, looking around with narrowed eyes. A quick look over placed him at about eight or nine. Maybe ten but probably not but more than that he was terribly thin and terribly peaky looking.

"I'm sorry about all that. We were pretty confused about some stuff. Im Bruce." He squatted down and held out his hand to Steve. The boy took it with some trepidation and shook. "I'm a doctor too so I'm gonna ask you some questions. You can ask me questions too if you want."

Steve nodded and licked his lips. Bruce wondered if they would be able to pull up any old medical records. As he was now he looked so sickly and weak that he might as well try and help the kid until they were able to trun him back. "Can you tell me how old you are?"

"Eight. What's going on?"

Bruce took his wrist and pulse. "Well I'm not really sure." He said, counting in his head. "I'm gonna tell you you the truth. You're not supposed to be a kid. I know you as an adult and you were exposed to a chemical and whatever it was turned you back into a kid."

Steve stared at him blankly before making a face. "I don't think that can happen." He said doubtfully.

Bruce smiled a little. "I didn't either but I can prove it. Want to see a picture of yourself all grown up?"

The boy gave him another doubtful look but nodded and he pulled up picture of Steve from the army. He thought a black and white picture would probably be best. they would have to explain the world's new technology at some point but until then this would do and who knew, maybe by some stroke of luck they would get him cured or he would turn back on his own before it came to that.

"That can't be me!" The boy said, looking at the picture with a slightly miserable expression. "He's way too strong looking."

"Well that's a lot of years away. A lot changes."

The boy said nothing but Bruce had the distinct impression he did not believe it. "Listen, I know this is a lot to take in but I'm telling you the truth. More than that, this isn't even the 1940's. This is 2016."

The boy's eyes shot towards the door and he drew back slightly. "Listen mister, I just want to go home."

Bruce sighed and picked up a copy of that day's paper. "Look. See the date?" Steve was looking at him like he was a crazy person but his eyes focused on the date.

Steve took it and swallowed. "So I'm an old man?" He asked, sounding like he was coming out of his doubt.

"Not exactly. It's pretty complicated. I can tell you about it in a little bit but I think I'd like to examine you first. Will you come with me?"

Steve nodded and got to his feet, adjusting his shirt so it didn't fall off his shoulders. "Can I have something to wear?" He asked a little sheepishly.

Bruce grinned slightly. "Sure. Tony, can you send someone out to get him some clothes?" He called. A positive sounding yell came from the hallway and Bruce shrugged and lead Steve to the elevator. "It'll be just a little bit."

"So. . . if I'm an adult, do I live here?"

"No, you have your own place but you do have a room here. You woke up in it."

"I don't understand any of this!"

"It's alright. You will. Things will make more sense when I explain everything. You joined the army when you grew up and you were part of a program to make a super soldier. I can find a film on it if it helps."

He lead the boy out of the elevator and to his lab, telling him to sit on a table until he had found his doctor's bag.

"Who was talking earlier?" Steve asked, looking around. Bruce had the sudden thought that all of the things he was looking at were impressively new. He could not have seen anything like them before, in fact most people today couldn't have.

"A. . ." He wracked his brain for what to say. "It's called a computer. It's like a library inside of a box and run by electricity. This one can talk like a person."

"Is it magic?"

He laughed a little. It seemed so strange to think that Captain America believed in magic as a child. Maybe he did as an adult, Thor was enough to make people wonder. Bruce wasn't so convinced but who knew? "I guess you could say that but all man made. Like a car or a movie."

"I'd like to see one."

"We can look at one in a bit." He regretted saying box. No one had a box anymore. Well, no one friends with Tony Stark.

He checked the boy's heart and lungs, not pleased when he heard how shallow Steve's breathing was and his heart rhythm. "I'm going to give you a round of anti-biotics. That's a kind of medicine and an inhaler. It's for asthma. It'll help you breath." He went to a cabinet and fished for a bottle of anti-biotics. They hadn't had them in the 1920s. Then again, they hadn't has fluoridated water or most vaccines. He checked his cabinets and made a note to order an inhaler. "If you take this twice a day I think you'll start to feel better. Do you see the doctor much?"

"There's one who makes rounds in our neighborhood. He comes once a month and mom always tries to get me to see him but sometimes she has to call another one. I get sick a lot."

Bruce nodded. He had heard that. "Well I think you'll feel better once these kick in and the inhaler will help, I just have to get it for you."

"Am I sick as a grown up?"

"I've never seen you get sick. I'm not even sure you can."

A sort of whimsical smile passed over the boy's face and Bruce wasn't sure he believed him. "Why don't we go back upstairs. I can show you a computer. The boy nodded, looking a litle in over his head and Bruce lead him back to the elevator. He wasn't a history expert but he knew enough to know they had had elevators in the 1920s. He had already calculated that if Steve was eight then he would be from either the year 1926 or '27. He made plans to do a bit of reading later. Tony was probably already on that.

Once back upstairs Steve crept towards the window and looked out across the city. "I recognize a few buildings." He said, turning his head to look at Bruce.

Bruce for his part gave him a strained smile. "I told you it was New York."

"I can't believe I'm in the future." Steve said wistfully, leaving the window and taking a seat on the couch.

"I know this must be a lot to take in but the world's not so different." Bruce said, taking a seat next to him. "People still go to work and kids still play. People still go to the movies and baseball games."

"They do? Can people fly yet?"

Bruce laughed a little. "Well only in an airplane."

"What about underwater? Do we live underwater?"

"No. . . no one lives underwater."

"What about on the moon?"

Bruce laughed again. "Not there either. Mostly we just live on Earth. I'm from Ohio."

Steve nodded although he looked a little disappointed. "Bucky says we're gonna live on the moon in fifty years."

"Well, he might be off by a few but maybe some day."

Steve nodded again and sighed. "And I still live in New York?"

"You do. Here, if you have any questions about today we can look it up on the computer." He opened his lap top and waited.

Steve scrunched up his face. "Who's the president?"

"I can tell you that one. His name's Barack Obama." He pulled up a picture and Steve stared at it.

"I didn't know a colored man could be president. Good for him."

"Well he got elected twice." He decided not to comment on the 'colored' comment. In the 1920s that was polite and there would be time to correct that later.

Steve gave a serious nod and continued to look at the picture. "Is he a good president?"

"I think he's alright. Who's president in your time?"

"Calvin Coolidge. Can I see a picture of an elephant? Me and some boys went to the zoo last month and saw one."

Amused, Bruce pulled up the image and let Steve click through the different pictures. The boy learned fast and hit the arrow keys back and forth, smiling when he made the picture change. He told Bruce about the zoo and the different animals he had seen, occasionally asking to look at a new animal.

They were interrupted a few minutes later by Tony arriving with a shopping bag. "Pepper sent a lady out and got you some clothes." He said, handing Steve the bag.

After a quick look in the bag Steve got to his feet, using both arms to push himself up. "Where can I get dressed?" He asked.

Bruce directed him to an empty bedroom and told him it could be his if he wanted.

Once the boy was in the room he turned to Tony. "I need to order him an inhaler. I think he has asthma."

"Yeah I can get you one." Tony said. "What's he like?"

"Um. . . pretty normal. I told him the truth and I think believes me. He was asking about people flying so I guess he thinks it's the future.:

"Thor can fly."

"Thor's not exactly your average man."

Tony waved away his comment. "This is gonna be a pain." He said. "This place is about as un-1920s as you can get. I mean he said they didn't even have a phone."

Bruce gave him a raised eyebrow. "A lot of people didn't and Steve grew up poor."

"Yeah so he probably thinks electricity is witchcraft."

"I kinda doubt that."

"Fine but I seriously doubt we can explain everything to him."

"Well maybe we won't have to. Did you let the others know?"

"I sent everyone a message. Clint and Natasha should be back soon."

"Alright, well I'm going to take a blood sample from him and analyze it tonight so maybe I'll be able to find out what caused this. My money's still on the chemical plant."

"This better be reversible." Tony groaned.

 **So it's not really set at a specific time and I'll probably blend some elements from the comics kind of like I did in my Black Widow one and my Hawkeye one. The title comes from an episode of the** **Twilight** **zone. It doesn't really have anything to do with the story but I thought it sounded good. Thanks so much for reading. I'll try and update at least once a week and usually on Saturday.**

 **I'm going to try and make stuff as historically accurate with this story as I can. It's actually kind of neat if Steve was** **born** **July 4th 1918 he'd be the same age as by grandfather, less than a month apart (July 17th 1918). With some of the research I've been doing on the 20s it's kind of weird to think that the things I'm writing were things he experienced and saw change. Kind of cool too and I love history so I'll try and do my best with the history, I'm a US history major anyway so this is pretty fun for me.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, so here's the next chapter! This story is all thanks to Ashollow who asked for it!**

 **Thanks so much to everyone! I can't believe how many follows just the first chapter got! That's some pressure! I hope you all continue to like it, thank so much :)**

Clint and Natasha arrived back about an hour later to find Bruce showing Steve how to access films on the internet. So far they had watched three cartoons and several silent 'Our Gang' reels that Steve seemed to like very much and seemed to also be familiar with the characters. He was apparently delighted with the invention of sound, saying he had heard about talking movies before but never seen one.

Color films interested him too and he admitted that he had only ever seen one in color and it had been a horror movie. Monster movie as he called it. He professed that Lon Chaney was the scaries person he had ever seen. They had laughed at this.

"So this is him? Natasha asked, creeping up behind the couch and making them all jump.

"Steve this is Natasha." Bruce said, a little annoyed that she had crept up on him. "And this is Clint."

"Hey kid!" Clint said as brightly as he could.

Steve smiled at him but then frowned. "Mom says I'm not supposed to call adults by their first names. She says it's rude."

"I don't have a problem with it." Clint said, thumping down in an oposite seat.

"You can call me Miss Romanoff until you feel comfortable calling me Natasha." Natasha said, cutting him off. "And he can be Mr. Barton." She made a face as though just saying the words made her cringe. "And Dr. Banner and Mr. Stark."

"I have a doctorate too you know." Tony muttered.

"That's nice." She said, ignoring him and taking a seat. "What are you watching?"

"Dr. Banner showed me how to find films. I can watch anything I want!" Steve said excitedly. Rather than typing Bruce had told him just to speak his request and JARVIS would find it. JARVIS would have to be explained later too.

"That's very neat." She said, giving him a small smile. She cast an eye over the clothes they had bought. Jeans and a plain t-shirt. Probably best to keep it simple.

"Listen Steve, I need to take a quick blood sample." Bruce said, removing his doctor's bag from under the table.

Steve gave him a mild look of trepidation. "Will it hurt?"

"Maybe a little. Just like a pinch."

"If you sit through it you can have ice cream." Tony said, leaning against the wall.

Steve perked up and nodded, extending his arm.

"Have you done this before?" Bruce asked.

The boy shook his head. "No but my mom's a nurse and I've seen them do it."

"Alright, well first I'm gonna clean your arm with alcohol and then. . ." Steve scrunched up his face and made a small noise before opening his eyes and watching. When it was over Bruce stuck a bandage to his arm and let him lay back. "Are you feeling okay?" Steve gave a small nod but stayed looking tired. "I'll get you some juice."

The rest of the day was spent trying to get Steve acclimated to the present. He was smart, a quick learner and tried to be helpful but very quickly it became apparent that he was easily worn out. Aside from that he seemed to like laughing and playing games and was a very normal little boy. Clint had found a checkers game buried in a cabinet and the two had played several rounds.

When Thor returned he was covered in grime from a battle and greeted them all loudly. "I hear that the Captain has been much changed!" He said. "Is this Friend Rogers?"

Steve looked up wide eyed but showed little fear. "Are we friends?" He asked.

"Aye, most certainly. Do you remember me?"

Steve grinned at the outlandishly old fashioned way Thor spoke and shook his head. "No."

"Then I shall introduce myself. I am Thor, lord of Asgard and son of Odin."

"I'm Steve, I'm from Brooklyn."

"Then it is a pleasure to be reacquainted with you."

The boy laughed and then coughed but he continued smiling.

"Are you not well?" Thor asked with a troubled expression.

"I'm okay." Steve said. "Sometimes I get sick."

"Well don't get me sick!" Clint said, pretending to jump backwards.

Steve laughed again. "I don't get people sick. Bucky's always hanging around and he never gets sick."

"Is Bucky your best friend?" Natasha asked.

"Yeah! We do tons of fun stuff. He always comes and plays when I'm too sick to go outside. We play games and whenever the other kids don't want me to play on their team he always picks me."

"He sounds like a good friend." She turned around and motioned to get Tony's attention. "Get food." She hissed.

He made a sarcastic motion and headed for the land line.

"You'll have to tell me about him some time."

He grinned and she could see he was missing a tooth. "Okay!"

Natasha smiled at him briefly, feeling it was a little strange to be seeing Steve this way. The Sentinel of Liberty reduced to a toothless child. Just like any. Smaller even then any child. He smiled and laughed but he was ill. There was sickness just beneath the surface. Perhaps they had caught him on a good day.

He seemed happy though and maybe that was perpetuating his health.

She sat next to him and took over the board game. "My turn."

Clint let her and sat back while Thor headed off for a shower. "She cheats." He teased.

She smirked. "Not against kids."

He laughed and they played for a bit. She went easy, pretending not to notice pieces and occasionally making a bad move on purpose. She had never considered herself good with children. Sure, pretending to be good with them was easy. Making them at ease, when needed getting them to talk but the trick was that she never felt at ease herself. Children didn't think like adults and were hard to predict. This one was no different. That fact that she knew him as an adult made it a little more interesting but she still wasn't comfortable.

When the food arrived they ended the game, agreeing on a friendly tie and moved to the dining table. Tony had been smart enough to order something simple. He had already done some reading. There wasn't Chinese take out in the 1920's. He'd ordered chicken and potatoes. Something simple. Steve wasn't a massive eater. Not like he was as an adult. Of course he didn't have a super soldier serum quadrupling his metabolism at the moment.

Afterward the boy seemed worn down and tired and ended up being sent to bed by Bruce.

Once they were sure he was asleep the others sat around the living room talking. "I'm running a test on his blood sample down in the lab right now. I should have the results by morning." Bruce said, adjusting his glasses.

"To determine the origin?" Natasha asked.

"Yeah and see if I can extract an antidote or find a way to reverse it."

"I'm gonna run down and get the inhaler." Tony said as his phone beeped. He hurried out of the room towards the elevators.

"Is he ill? She asked, eyes and ears as sharp as ever. "I've heard the stories."

"Yeah, I'd say he's pretty sick. I mean he's fine now but I think just today's activity wore him out. I had his military records sent but anything older is near impossible to find. Record keeping was all paper and it's been seventy to eighty years. The hospital he was born at hasn't even existed for close to seventy years."

"What about modern medicine?" Clint asked looking sympathetic.

"Well I've put him on anti-biotics but we'll just have to wait and see. If it takes a while to turn him back it would probably be a good idea to take him to a hospital. Maybe see a specialist."

"I really hope it doesn't come to that."

"Me neither. We need Steve back. If the press got a hold of this Steve wouldn't be safe."

"I can handle any necessary press statements." Tony said.

"How are we gonna take care of him?" Clint asked. "We've got jobs to do. Superhero stuff and it's not exactly a job you can take your kid to."

"Take turns watching him. Whoever's not a necessity for a mission." Natasha said.

"This is such a weird day." Clint said, slouching back.

"Very but interesting. Seeing the Captain as a child is a truly inspirational story." Thor said. "For such a small child he has a stout heart."

Bruce smiled faintly. "He's handling it well. I told him the truth and he didn't freak out. It took a while for him to believe me but he seems to now. If anything I think he was excited about it. "

Tony reentered the room and tossed Bruce a package containing the inhaler. "What'd I miss?" He asked.

"We were just talking about Steve. Sayin' he's a pretty good kid." Clint said with a grin.

"Yeah but what did you expect? He's Captain America."

They talked for a little while more before retiering and turning in for the night.

 **So I picked some Our Gang reels, if you've never seen them you might know some of the characters from the Little Rascals 90s movie. They're pretty cute silent reels from the 20's which later became sound in the 30s. Other than that I think I mentioned Lon Chaney and I was referencing his 195 film, I saw it years ago and let me tell you that guy was a genius with make up. He still looks creepy.**

 **I did some looking and The Jazz Singer (1928) was the first full length sound and talking film but there were others before that had music and sound effects but without speaking. (I mean a real sound track, not just someone playing the movie house organ).**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter! I'll have another up next week. If anyone has any suggestions I'm always up to hear them! Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks so much to everyone who read and reviewed and offered suggestions, also, I can't believe how many people are following after just two chapters! Thanks so much! My goal with this story is to make it stand out from my other deagged fics. I don't want them too similar and I want to give all the Kid!Avengers their own distinct personalities. I hope I do a good job! Thanks!**

Steve awoke the next morning in a daze. He half expected everything to be a dream but when he looked around he found himself in a foreign room and a bed much larger then his own. After a quick moment of squeezing his eyes shut and opening them several times he got to his feet and walked to the window.

It was New York. He had seen pictures of the city skyline before but it was different. He could make out the Empire State Building and recognized it from the pictures but there were so many more and they were all fantastically tall. Shiny too. Towers of steel and glass. He could see cars down below. They were different looking than any cars he had ever seen. All different colors and sizes. No Model-Ts.

A look around the room was just as impressive. It wasn't too different from any other bedroom but it was bigger than his. In fact he was pretty sure most of his house could fit in it. The bed was huge and comfortable and much larger then his own.

After sticking his head out into the hall he dressed quickly, pulling his jeans on from the day before and picking a clean shirt from the shopping bag. The clothes were a little different from what he was used to. Most of the boys he knew wore overalls or button down work shirts and knickerbockers. Hardly any except the oldest among them wore men's trousers. Just a short sleeves shirt without a collar was a little strange but he decided not to worry about it.

Another difference was shoes. They laced up the same but they had odd soles and weren't leather. They were more comfortable though and he liked that. When he was dressed he used his fingers to comb his hair and hurried out to see if anyone else was awake.

He found the living room with little trouble but it was empty and so was the kitchen and dining room. Not knowing what else to do he wandered around the room, looking at the few magazines that lay scattered and then out the windows. Morning rush hour was crawling by. Thousands of cars filled the streets, more than he could ever remember seeing. Hundreds of yellow taxi cabs dotted the lines and he pressed his face to the glass in awe. People too filled the side walks, some carrying brief cases and purses and others simply hurrying along to work. Occasionally a bicycle weaved through the cars, earning the ire of the drivers.

Suddenly a noise behind him made him jump and he wheeled around. Tony was stepping out of the elevator looking unshaven and rumpled. He yawned loudly and waved to Steve before heading towards the coffee pot.

Shoving his hands into his front pockets Steve made his way towards the couch. "I've never seen so many cars before." He said.

Tony cast an eye out the window and grimaced. "You've never been stuck out there either."

Steve grinned a little and stood swaying. "Nope. Did you not sleep well?"

Tony yawned again and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm fine." He paused to watch the boy as he stood swaying and leaning against the couch. There was something old mannish in the way the boy stood. He shook his head. "Alright, I'm gonna make breakfast and then go shower. Meet me back here when I'm done."

Steve nodded and sat down at the table while Tony threw on some oat meal. He had spent the night reading everything he could find on the 1920's and now felt prepared enough to give Steve a run down of the twenty-first century. "Eat up." He said, setting a bowl in front of him and heading out. "I'll be back in a few."

Alone again Steve ate quietly, blowing on his food and watching the cars through the window. After a few minutes the elevator dinged again and Natasha stepped off. She was dressed from a work out and carrying a water bottle. He greeted her with a smile and she cast an eye over him.

"Did you make that yourself?" She asked.

"No, Mr. Stark made it."

She moved to the kitchen and sniffed the pot. "Smells okay."

"It tastes good." He said cheerfully.

Shrugging she helped herself to a bowl and came to sit across from him. "I suppose we should find something for you to do today."

"Mr. Stark told me to wait here for him. He's gonna come back."

She glanced towards the hall. "I wonder. . ."

"Are you an acrobat?" He asked, looking at her work out clothes.

She looked down and laughed. "No. I was exercising."

He cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"Well. . . running and lifting weights. . . It keeps me healthy and in shape."

He nodded wisely when she said healthy. "You sure got up early to do that and I never heard of a lady lifting weights." He grinned as though it was some special joke and she found herself smiling too. "You must be really strong."

"Pretty strong." She eyed the inhaler package lying on the counter. "Steve, Dr. Banner got you something. It's a kind of medicine. If you start having trouble breathing he wants you to use it." She set the box in front of him and removed the inhaler from the package, fitting the pieces together. She gave a short demonstration of how to use it. "You can use it as much as you want we won't run out of medicine."

He took it and held it carefully, interested in how it worked. "Thank you."

She leaned forward. "Do you have very bad attacks?"

He frowned and nodded, finishing his oat meal. "Sometimes. Sometimes they're not so bad. "

"I hope this helps."

He nodded, thinking hard about it. When she gave it to him he took a pill from the bottle Bruce had set out. He didn't feel immediately better but then he thought, pills never worked that way. The doctor had told him he had a chest infection, he'd heard that before but this was the first pill he had taken for it. Another doctor had given his mother an ointment to rub on his chest but that was about it.

After he finished eating she went and waited on the couch for Tony. Natasha finished her food and left to change, leaving him alone yet again.

He thought these people moved very fast although he wasn't sure what they were moving to but that wasn't so strange. His mother moved fast. She worked long hours and was gone a lot. He wondered what kind of jobs these people had.

Soon after Tony returned looking much more awake. He poured himself a second cup of coffee and then came to sit across from Steve, pulling up a hologram screen next to him. "Alright kid, I'm gonna give you the run down on the twenty-first century." He tossed a pad of paper towards Steve who failed to catch it but picked it up none the less. "For starters. Let's talk about America. There are Fifty States now. There's one up north called Alaska and one down south called Hawaii.

A map of the United States blinked into existence on the screen and Steve wrote down: fifty states on his paper.

"Alcohol is legal again. Yay for that. Now, an important one. Money looks a bit different. More presidents, fewer Indians and lady liberties." The screen changed and a picture of an Indian Head penny next to a modern one appeared, followed by a buffalo nickle and a Jefferson one. Tony clicked through a few more before the screen changed to a picture of the president.

"I know him!" Steve said excitedly. "Mr. Banner told me about him!"

"Okay, moving on. This is a cell phone. It's a portable telephone. You type the numbers into the key pad instead of using a rotary dial." He mimed the dial with his hands.

"I'm not allowed to use the phone. Mr. Glynn who owns the drug store doesn't let kids use it. My friend Bucky tried one time and he chased us off with a broom." Steve grinned slightly. "He just wanted to see if anyone would answer."

"Well you probably won't need to use it. Cars are pretty much the same. Book are the same. Paper and ink. All lighting here is electric. It's pretty much electric all over the country now. Do you know how to work a switch? On is up, down is off. Twist the knob on a lamp." Tony didn't mention that all lighting was linked to the tower's main frame and all Steve really had to do was ask JARVIS but thinking of that brought him to another matter. "There is a computer. . . an electric voice in this building. He's called JARVIS and you can talk to him. He talks just like a regular person. If you get lost in the building just call for him."

Steve looked around but couldn't quite figure this one out. An electric voice. . . "Is he like a record?"

Tony started to say no but stopped. "Like one you can talk to."

"I've never heard of anything like that!"

"Give it a try."

After hesitating a moment Steve raised his voice. "Mr. JARVIS?"

Yes Mr. Rogers?

With a small start Steve realized it was the voice he had heard when he'd first woken up. "How are you?" He asked.

I am well, thank you. I trust you are feeling well yourself?

"I'm okay. Thank you." He grinned at Tony. "That's amazing!"

"Isn't it kid? Now listen, we're gonna find a way to turn you back into an adult but I spoke to Bruce last night and he's not sure how."

"How come I gotta be an adult again?"

Tony paused. "It's the way things are supposed to be."

"You help a lot of people as an adult." Natasha said, stepping back into the room. "We need you back so you can help again."

The boy sat for a moment looking conflicted but then nodded. "Okay."

She brushed a hand over the back of his head and gave him a small smile. "It'll be okay."

"Actually he says you might just return to normal on your own. Whatever chemical bonded to you will probably burn out he just doesn't know how long it will take." Tony said. He stopped when he realized Steve had no idea what that meant.

After that they let Steve draw with the pad of paper and he did so for a while, entertaining himself and staying quiet. In truth he was awfully tired. This was coming as a big shock and more than that he was a little home sick. He had never really been away from home before. Bucky's house didn't count and missed his mother. He was afraid to ask about her because he knew that if he was very old then certainly she would be and it was a very terrible idea that she might not be alive. He tried not to think about it and instead took a seat by the windows and continued to draw.

As the day passed, the others came and went. Thor and Tony took a mission . Natasha stepped out for a solo job and Clint stayed and made lunch. Very sloppy sandwiches. Steve decided that the world wasn't too different. Maybe people talked a little differently and dressed differently but the people in the tower were nice and he liked them. His only real complaint was that he was lonely. Sure whenever one of them would pass through they would stop and say something to him. Clint looked at all of his drawling and Bruce helped him get another film to play but he was lonely.

Before dinner Bruce took another blood sample and he had ended up taking a nap. When Natasha woke him up the others had gathered with pizza. He was curious about it. He had never had pizza before although he thought he might have heard something about it once before. It turned out to be good and e ate as much as he could which turned out not to be so much. Dinner was fun. He liked listening to the adults talk. Tony spoke quickly and Clint laughed loudly. Thor had a booming voice and his quaint way of speaking was entertaining.

After dinner Natasha agreed to watch a movie with him and they settled for a Charlie Chaplin film. The others stuck around for it too, although Tony couldn't stop talking and Clint didn't really seem to have the attention span for it. Either way it was nice to have the people around.

When the movie ended Natasha checked her watch and suggested that he take a bath. She took him to the bathroom adjacent to his bedroom and showed him how to use the taps. "Do you have running water at home?" She asked, sitting on the edge of the tub as it filled.

He nodded. "In the kitchen. Mom has to boil water whenever one of us takes a bath. Someone said the city was gonna fix it so we got hot water though."

"That will be nice."

He nodded and then stood, waiting for her to leave. She gave him a small smile and did, heading back out to the others. Thor was recounting his favorite parts of the movie.

"That Chaplin in an amusing fellow. Truly a great minstrel."

"One of the greatest of his age." Bruce said, eyes not looking up from his tablet. "Judging by my last blood test the chemicals from the explosion attached themselves to Steve's cells. They probably did the same to us but we're not enhanced with a super soldier serum and it looks like the chemicals over wrote it but from this it looks like they'll burn themselves out. I sped the process up and the sample I took from Steve after lunch and it's back to normal. By my calculations he should be back no normal in side of two weeks, maybe less. Physical activity could excellorate the process or any other number of circumstances. I don't know."

"So he'll turn back." Tony said, leaning back in his seat. "Thank God."

"He's not that bad as a kid." Clint said with a grin.

"Do you know how many things could potentially go wrong with him as a kid? The least of which is some one finding out and him getting kidnapped."

"It does cut out man power down too." Natasha said. Tony cast her a surprised look but she ignored it. "But two weeks isn't that bad.

"There about. I can't exactly pin point it." Bruce cut in, finally looking up. "I'm going to wait until I absolutely have to to take more blood. I may not even need to but he gets so week after that I really don't want to do it again."

"Do you think you'll need much more?" She asked.

He resumed analyzing his data. "I doubt it."

"Well then we'll just have to take care of him until then. Pretty simple." Clint said getting to his feet. "But for now I'm off to bed."

 **Okay, thanks for reading, next chapter will be up on a few days!**

 **Ok, to Armanda, I completely agree with you about anti-biotics, I've been telling people the same thing for years and after rereading what I wrote I think I made it more reasonable in this chapter. Thanks!**

 **To Stuckyiscute, It's a cute idea but I don't think I can write Steve as gay in this. He's just a kid and if you want to read him as gay you can but I'll leave it up to the reader. My only intention is to write a little boy. If I'm honest, shipping him with anybody has never really appealed to me. I dunno why but he's just not someone I ever shipped. It's a really sweet idea though and If other people want Bucky to be a character I would love to bring him in, it would be a while, I'd like to focus on Steve for a bit but if people want I'd love to bring him in. Also, I listen to requests an try to write them but sometimes I come up blank. If you've got one I can try. Thanks!**

 **Other notes** **, I was looking at my dad's coin collection and thought about the monetary differences, there were a lot of coins with the figure of Lady Liberty on them in the 20's. This was when it started to change. In 1909 the first Lincoln Penny was minted and distributed to the public so he would have known about them However, half dollars, dimes and quarters still had figures of Lady Liberty. I dunno if people like the historical facts or not, I love them and just wanted to share.**

 **Again, thanks so much for reading!**


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